


In Which Pettigrew is Actually Caught

by Huntress8611



Series: Your Family is Who You Choose to Make It [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: (also implied) - Freeform, Abusive Dursley Family (Harry Potter), Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Book 3: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Child Neglect, Dursley Family Bashing (Harry Potter), Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Not Canon Compliant - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, not a lot of either in this fic but they'll definitely be in future fics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:01:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24418531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Huntress8611/pseuds/Huntress8611
Summary: “You should give me Pettigrew and follow him,” she said. “I saw the spell you used to transform him, I can turn him back. If you come with us, they probably won’t give us time to explain or prove anything, they’ll just arrest you on sight.”Sirius looked at her for a moment before nodding and handing the traitor to her. “Go straight to the castle, don’t let the traitor escape. Make sure they listen.”
Relationships: Sirius Black & Harry Potter, Sirius Black & Remus Lupin, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Series: Your Family is Who You Choose to Make It [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1763422
Comments: 32
Kudos: 374





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Daily](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daily/gifts).
  * Inspired by [A Bond of Family](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4145868) by [Daily](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daily/pseuds/Daily). 
  * Inspired by [Never Piss off a Parental Werewolf](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7062001) by [NeverHadThePlot](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeverHadThePlot/pseuds/NeverHadThePlot). 
  * Inspired by [A home at last](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5497892) by [Januaryskies](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Januaryskies/pseuds/Januaryskies). 
  * Inspired by [Island of Hope](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/625852) by arwenraven. 



> This work begins at the end of Chapter 19 (The Servant of Lord Voldemort) of The Prisoner of Azkaban, and it would be beneficial to read Chapter 17-19, there’s a link to a PDF of the book in the series notes. There are a few small changes from those chapters, mainly being that Snape never left the castle and that Peter was transformed back into a rat, stunned, and then shoved unceremoniously into the pocket of Sirius’ robes.
> 
> This AU was inspired by all of the works I linked (and the series they are from), but my main inspiration was the series “A bond of family” by Daily. It has been one of my favorite series for a very long time.

“You know what this means? Turning Pettigrew in?” Sirius asked Harry quietly.

“You’re free,” said Harry.

“Yes, but also… I don’t know if anyone ever told you, I’m your godfather, and, well… your parents appointed me your guardian in the event that something happened to them.”

“Wait, do you mean-” Harry cut himself off, waiting for Sirius to continue, not wanting to assume anything.

“I understand, if you want to stay with your aunt and uncle, I mean, you’ve lived with them your whole life, but… well… think about it. Once my name’s cleared, you could- I mean, if you ever wanted a new home…” Sirius trailed off, waiting for Harry’s reaction.

“Wait, live with you? Leave the Dursleys?” Harry could hardly believe it, he had a chance to get out of that awful house.

“I thought you wouldn’t want to,” Sirius said quickly. “I understand, of course, I just thought that I’d offer.”

“Are you insane? Of course I want to leave the Dursleys! Have you got a house? When can I move in?”

“You want to? You mean it?”

“Yeah, I mean it!” Harry said, grinning.

Sirius’ face lit up.

Suddenly, Remus, who’d been leading them back to the castle, stopped and turned around.

“Remus, where are you going?” Sirius asked, grabbing his arm.

“Full moon,” he said, quickly twisting out of Sirius’ grasp. “Didn’t take the potion.”

Sirius watched Remus disappear into the woods, heading towards the tunnel. He looked between the trees and the three children, but luckily Hermione spoke up before he had to choose.

“You should give me Pettigrew and follow him,” she said. “I saw the spell you used to transform him, I can turn him back. If you come with us, they probably won’t give us time to explain or prove anything, they’ll just arrest you on sight.”

Sirius looked at her for a moment before nodding and handing the traitor to her. “Go straight to the castle, don’t let the traitor escape. Make sure they listen.”

Hermione nodded, taking the animagus and quickly began to walk towards the castle, her and Harry supporting Ron between them.

Sirius quickly made his way past the willow and into the tunnel, pausing to listen. He couldn’t hear howls, so he continued down the tunnel until he emerged in the shack.

“Sirius, what- you can’t leave the kids out there on their own, there’s dementors!” Remus said upon seeing him.

“Calm down,” Sirius said, walking over to Remus and making him sit back down on the bed. “Hermione told me to stay. She reminded me that they’d arrest me on sight, no chance to explain. She took the traitor. They’ll know by morning that I’m innocent, and then I’ll definitely get a trial.”

Remus sighed. “Okay, alright. You’re right. I just- I worry. Harry, I never- I need him safe.”

“So do I, Moony, so do I,” Sirius said, sitting down next to him. “But this is the best way. The dementors are looking for me. And I know you taught Harry the patronus charm, there’s no way you didn’t.”

“I did. Merlin, Siri, I just- did you know that this year is the first time I’ve seen him since… since James and Lily. I mean, I knew they’d never let me keep him, but I never could even visit. Dumbledore wouldn’t tell me where he was, just that he was happy, healthy, safe and loved. And obviously all of that was a lie of he’s willing to move in with someone he just met in order to get away from them.”

“I mean, knowing who he was with, I’m not surprised,” Sirius said softly.

“I just- how could Dumbledore put him with the Dursleys? You remember Petunia and Vernon, how awful they were to Lily. No wonder he wouldn’t tell me where-” Remus cut himself off with a pained groan. “You should go, I-”

“I’m not leaving, Remus,” Sirius said firmly, wrapping an arm around his shoulder and pulling the other man against him. “Already left you alone for twelve years worth of full moons, and that’s never going to happen again if I can help it,” he muttered.

“You don't-” Remus tried to finish his sentence, but he couldn’t think properly. He could feel his body preparing to shift and it hurt like hell.

“Here, c’mon, take a breath, Moony. You can do it.”

Remus allowed himself to lean against Sirius, pressing his face into his shoulder.

“Missed you, glad you’re here,” he said quietly.

“Merlin, Remus, I missed you too. I missed you so much,” Sirius said, wrapping his other arm around him.

They stayed like that for a few more minutes before Remus had to push Sirius away.

“I- you, change.”

Sirius nodded, quickly shifting into a dog before sitting and leaning against Remus’ leg, waiting until he could feel Remus begin to shift before moving to the other side of the room.

Once Remus had completely turned, Padfoot cautiously walked over to Moony and nudged him gently with his nose.

At first he was met with an angry, territorial growl, but that quickly cut off as the werewolf recognized his scent. Padfoot wagged his tail, happy that everything was once again the way it should be.


	2. Chapter 2

Meanwhile, Harry and Hermione had carried Ron back to the castle. Luckily, Professor McGonagall was at the entrance, and as she saw them, she quickly came to help.

“What on Earth are you doing? Get inside right now, you three will be serving detention for the rest of time-”

“Professor,” Harry interrupted. “Hermione has something to tell you, and it’s a matter of life and death.”

Hermione allowed McGonagall to take Ron and she reached into her pocket and pulled out the stunned rat. She grabbed her wand, took a deep breath, and managed the spell she’d seen Remus and Sirius do.

McGonagall gasped. “Peter Pettigrew was killed by Sirius Black, how on Earth…”

“He didn’t kill him,” Harry quickly explained. “He was framed, he never even got a trial.”

“This- I have to contact Dumbledore and the Minister, but first, I need you two to follow me, Mr. Weasley needs to go to the hospital wing. Bring Pettigrew, would you?”

They quickly made their way to the hospital wing.

“Madam Pomfrey, Mr. Weasley appears to have a broken leg,” McGonagall said, setting the boy on the bed.

Madam Pomfrey, unable to see who it was, said, “Oh dear, set this other man on a bed too, so I can look him over.”

They did as she said, and the second she saw his face, she gasped. “Is that-”

“It is,” McGonagall said as Pomfrey moved to see what was wrong with Ron.

“Then that means-”

“He didn't do it.”

“Where-”

“He’s with Professor Lupin,” Harry interjected.

“Excuse me? He’s where?” she said in shock, looking up from Ron’s leg, which she had just set and bandaged.

“He’s an animagus, “ Harry added quickly.

“Merlin help me, those boys,” she muttered, before looking at Peter in disgust, but going to make sure he was uninjured anyway.

While Pomfrey did that, McGonagall waited to contact Dumbledore until after Pomfrey had verified his identity, healed everyone, and reapplied the stunning charm to ensure Pettigrew wouldn’t be escaping.

That took a few hours, and at that point, McGonagall sent a Patronus to Dumbledore and requested that he contact the Minister and come to the hospital wing, and that it involved Sirius Black and was of the utmost importance.

Dumbledore arrived within the hour, and the Minister within two.

“I was informed that something had occurred with Black?” Cornelius Fudge said impatiently.

“It appears that we have made a mistake,” McGonagall explained, “seeing as Peter Pettigrew is currently lying in that bed, very much alive.”

Fudge quickly went over to Peter, shocked. “That’s not possible,” he said. “If he was alive something would have happened at the trial-”

“Sir,” Hermione said, “Sirius Black never received a trial.”

“Of course he did, young woman. Nobody can go to Azkaban without a trial.”

“Unfortunately, Minister, Miss Granger is correct. It seems that Sirius lack never received a trial,” Dumbledore said.

“In that case, where is Mr. Black, if he’s innocent?”

“He should be here within an hour or so,” Pomfrey said, looking out the window. “Yes, no more than an hour and a half.”

“I guess I will have to wait then.”

Fudge called for a few Aurors, having them take Pettigrew into custody, before sitting down in a chair to wait.


	3. Chapter 3

"Remus, hey, wake up."

Remus groaned and swatted at the hand shaking his shoulder.

"Moony, seriously, you need to get up."

"What…" he said groggily, turning to look at who was trying to wake him.

The second he realized who it was, he bolted upright. "Padfoot?"

"Yeah, still me," Sirius said with a smile. "Here, take this."

He shrugged off his outer robes, wrapping them around Remus tightly.

"Now c’mon, they must have gotten the traitor arrested by now."

Remus took the hand Sirius offered, allowing him to help him stand. As he managed to stand he realized something.

"Did you heal me?" Remus asked, confused.

"No, I just stayed. You know Moony's not as aggressive when he's got someone with him."

"Yeah, I just- it's been so long," he whispered.

"I know."

He pulled Remus into a tight hug, the other man hugging him back and burying his face in his shoulder.

"I missed you, Siri," he said, his voice muffled.

"Missed you too. I missed you so much."

They stayed like that for a few minutes before reluctantly letting go. Sirius lifted Remus' arm over his shoulder, helping him walk as they made their way towards the castle.

Despite it having been more than 12 years, Sirius still knew all of the secret passageways like the back of his hand, which made it easy for them to get into the castle and to the hospital wing without being spotted.

As they walked in, Madam Pomfrey immediately ushered them to a bed, forcing Remus to lay down. She attempted to make Sirius move to another bed, but he sat down on the edge of Remus' bed, taking his hand and refusing to move.

Looking around the hospital wing, Sirius could see Harry, Ron, and Hermione, along with McGonagall, Dumbledore, and Fudge.

"Is Ron okay?" Sirius asked, looking at Madam Pomfrey, who was bandaging the surprisingly few injuries Remus had.

"He is fine. I assume that was your doing?"

"I didn't have a choice," Sirius said, looking guilty. "Pettigrew was his pet rat."

"Merlin, it was all three of you wasn't it."

"Yeah."

"Black, is it true that you never received a trial?" Fudge asked, and Sirius shifted his attention to him.

"Yes. I was taken directly to Azkaban. There was no trial."

"Well, you're getting one now. Tomorrow, I mean," Fudge said, going over a plan in his head. "Pettigrew will be tried and if he is found guilty, you will be acquitted."

If acted immediately, he could still spin this to work in his favor. He would make an announcement that he was fixing the mistakes of his predecessor, shifting any and all possible blame away from himself.

Sirius heard Fudge muttering to himself, something to do with blame, and the press, before the man apparated out of the hospital wing.

He noticed that McGonagall and Dumbledore had both left, which was good, because if Dumbledore had still been there, he'd have given him a piece of his mind for putting Harry with the Dursleys. Oh well, that would have to wait.

He looked down at Remus, asking, "You're okay?"

"I'm okay."

Sirius nodded and stood up, letting go of his hand and going over to Harry.

He could tell that Ron was dead asleep on the hospital bed, if the chainsaw-like snoring was anything to go by, and Hermione appeared to have drifted off while reading a book.

Harry was the only one awake, and he'd moved away from them, over to the other side of the room for some reason, sitting on a bed.

"Are you okay, Harry?"

Harry startled at the question, not having noticed Sirius' approach.

"Yes- yeah, I'm okay," he said quickly. "Is Professor Lupin alright?"

"He's okay, too."

Sirius sat down at the end of the bed, and they were silent for a few minutes, until Harry spoke up.

"You- were you serious, earlier? About letting me live with you?" Harry asked quietly, looking down at his hands.

It took all of his self control not to make a joke, to not say,  _ I'm always Sirius _ or something equally ridiculous.

"Of course I meant it, Harry. Well, I'll have to be acquitted first, but yes. If you want to, you can stay with me."

Harry practically threw himself into his godfather's arms, and Sirius quickly wrapped his arms tightly around him, bringing up a hand to run it through Harry's messy hair.

"Yes, yes, I want to," Harry said, voice muffled. "I'd love to."

"I feel like I have to warn you, Remus is probably moving in with me. We shared a flat, before- before everything."

"That's okay. I still want to."

Sirius smiled softly, turning his head to look at Remus, who had sat up and was looking at them.

Sirius turned his attention back to Harry when the boy let out a yawn.

"Sleep, Harry," he said, tightening his hold and slowly rocking side to side.

"Don't leave?"

"I'll be here when you wake up, I promise."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So when I was writing this, I wasn't sure exactly what to do with Fudge. I wanted the issue to be resolved fairly quickly, mostly because if I try to write a really in depth trial fic it's going to be an absolute disaster. My solution was this: Fudge seems like someone who places a ton of importance on his public image. If he gets a trial really quickly, he can pass off the error as the previous minister's. That would frame him as someone who fixes mistakes instead of just sweeping them under the rug. So yeah, that's my thought process on this.


	4. Chapter 4

When Harry fell asleep, Sirius carefully put him down on the bed and quietly made his way back to Remus.

"Is he okay?"

"Yeah, but something's off. He's too small. I could feel all his ribs while he was hugging me, and he's so nervous. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was just naturally shy, but he's not. I've been watching him for the past year. Remus, he reminds me of me," Sirius said quietly.

"C'mere," patting the bed next to him.

Sirius sat, and Remus shuffled them around so he could look Sirius in the eye.

"Are you sure?"

"Remus, he's with the Dursleys. The  _ Dursleys. _ You really think they treated him well?"

"I know, I just- I don’t want to believe you," Remus said, once again remembering the few times that he’d met Lily’s sister and her husband.

"I- he should have been safe, but- he wasn’t. I can just tell," Sirius said. "Also, I kinda told him that there was a chance you'd be there too, when he comes to live with me. I hope that's okay, I don't want to assume-"

"Padfoot, you’re an idiot," Remus said, pulling him into a soft kiss. "Of course I'll be there."

Remus leaned towards Sirius and wrapped his arms around him. Sirius reciprocated, holding him as tightly as he could and burying his face in the other man's shoulder.

He could feel and hear Sirius' breath hitch, and he moved a hand to the back of his neck, gently squeezing.

"You're safe now, you're free. I've got you."

Sirius tried to hold back a sob, but failed. "Sorry, sorry, I shouldn't-"

"It's okay. You don't have to be strong right now, Siri."

At that, the sobs that Sirius had managed to hold back came tumbling out. Remus didn't shush him. He needed to cry. Instead, he just tightened his grip and gently ran his nails along his scalp, unable to get his fingers through the tangled mess that was Sirius' hair.

"I'm right here. You're safe, Harry's here, he's gonna come live with us. You aren't there anymore. I love you so much. I've got you." Remus kept repeating those things over and over, just letting Sirius cry for as long as he needed.

“Better?” he asked softly once the sobbing had dissipated.

“Yeah, thanks,” Sirius responded, but he made no move to let go of Remus.

“I won’t disappear if you let go of me, you know.”

“I know, it’s just-” he broke off, frustrated.

“It’s okay. Everything’s going to work out. None of this should have happened. Harry should have been with us, you never should have been arrested, but right now? Tomorrow we’re going home. Harry’s coming with us, we’ll be able to get to know our godson. It’s not all going to be happy, but it’s our life, and I’ll be damned if we don’t make it the best it can be.”

Sirius laughed. “Good to know you’ve still got a way with words. You’re right, it’s our life and it’s about time we started living it.”


End file.
